I’m back, although I never really left. I’ve just wrapped up the most recent outing to support my horror novella, Poisonous. It was a convention, Konsplosion, held in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where I also happen to live. This was the convention’s second year. It’s still young. Events such as this provide a venue for me to better spread the poison. Lilac deserves to have her story told. Now, that many more people will understand. On Friday, the first day of the convention, I signed and sold books and spoke with numerous people about the book and about my work in general. I met a few aspiring writers among the throng. One bit of advice I offered to some of these, and also that I mentioned during one of the later panels I joined, was this: gauge your abilities. Learn from yourself and from others. Learn who you are as a writer. Once you’re aware of where you are and where you want to be, you can better determine which direction to proceed in. On Saturday, more people poured into the convention. There were a lot of people with pink and blue hair and faux British accents. Not everyone was into horror, but Konsplosion is a multi-genre event(although there is a substantial emphasis on anime) and numerous attendees were interested in my work. Some of those walked away with a signed poisonous bundle of paper and ink. Just after noon that day, I had a panel/discussion/feature to host, the topic of which was Dark Fiction. If you were there, you know what was discussed. If not, that’s your own fault for not being there. On Sunday, the convention’s final day, I arrived early with a bundle of Poisonous bookmarks. The bookmarks themselves weren’t actually poisoned, or at least I’m assuming so, since I haven’t heard news of anyone dying from a paper cut since I left the event. I wandered the halls, speaking with many people and passing out bookmarks until, with only one bookmark left, I went to join another panel at around 10:15 a.m., the first of two back-to-back panels on writing. Afterward, I returned to my table to sign and sell books until all was said, done, and over with, and my wife and I went out for an early supper. More people are reading Poisonous now. Many more people are aware of the book’s existence. That’s the third step. The first step is writing the book. The second is getting it published. Each step can be a massive one, but each is important in this line of work. The third, perhaps, is the greatest of all to traverse. There are a lot of people in the world. Some of those people are looking for new reading material. Sometimes, I help them find it — in more ways than one. I appreciate each and every individual who has elected to place my words on their shelves and in their thoughts. Without readers, an author is just a person who scribbles.

Tommy B. Smith is a writer of dark fiction, and the author of Poisonous. His works have been featured in numerous publications over the years to include Every Day Fiction, Morpheus Tales, Night to Dawn, Black Petals, and a variety of other magazines and anthologies. His presence currently infests Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he resides with his wife and cats.